There are three areas which I thought were of interest.
First and foremost, are the verses set for reading and meditation (Acts 4:1-12, NIV), note the highlighted verses: “The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is ” ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone’. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Expressed in a slightly different way: God, speaking through Peter, clearly tells the world that salvation can only be found in Jesus. If we believe Scripture then we must believe that salvation is found in no one else; for there is no other name given to men and women by which we MUST BE SAVED. Yet, there are some, who call themselves Christians, but who refuse to believe what these verses are clearly saying!
The second area is where Selwyn identifies what was the main issue with Stalin’s form of communism. He says: ‘Someone once described communism as the “devil’s twentieth-century missionary movement compounded of ruthlessness and rapture”. What makes a philosophy like this dangerous is not its ideology, but the fanatical fire that burns in the hearts of its advocates.’ In a similar fashion, some brands of ‘democracy’, can be just as destructive as Stalin’s communism.
The third area – is the prayer for today; it helps to remind ourselves that we belong to Jesus and nothing can separate us from His love. Selwyn’s prayer: “O God, we are passing through a turbulent time in history. Help me to see that I belong to Your kingdom ‘for such a time as this’. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.